Chapter 6: The Witches Wrath
I struggle to open my eyes….
Opaque…uncertain….this is how it seems.
A white light blinding me….
What has happened?
I feel the tenderness of soft hands, gently stroking me…urging me to come back.
"Wake up!" the voice calls out, "Merlin…wake up!"
My eyes open, slowly…my surroundings unknown.
Where the hell was I? I did not know.
Slowly her apparition becomes visible….no longer is it a godly vision of the unknown.
No longer is she a mystery….
"Gwen…." I say, relieved, to see someone familiar to me.
She does not respond, her eyes are darting all over the place, she is in a frenzy, she is worried….are those tears?
She looks down at me, she is worried….about me. But why?
My head falls to the side, I can see my arm, spread out, nicely blendedin a dark pool of….red…
Blood?
Her hand puts my head back in place, "Gwen…is….is that blood?" I ask.
She is shaking her head, her soft fingers trace my face, I can hear her, "Merlin! Talk to me! Merlin!" she calls out in a hysterical manner.
"I am…Gwen….the blood…." I tell her….
Still she does not respond, she places her ear close to my mouth, her hands fall on my chest…..
"Stop! Gwen! Stop it! Listen to me!"
She doesn't….and then I realize….
She cannot hear me….
My voice….why can't she hear me?
I try once more, "Gwen!" I cry out.
She is pumping my chest.
"Stop it!" I insist, I tried to push her aside, to make her stop….but then it hit me.
I could not move….
Alarming…..
My eyes struggle to remain open, Gwen's face hovers in front of me, her eyes covered in tears, her look- a woman lost….
I wanted to tell her that I was alright, that I was going to make it….
I…actually meant that much to her?…I….Merlin….had a woman crying over me.
In the background I hear a familiar voice thunder out my name.
He falls to the ground.
Arthur!
"Arthur! Arthur! I cannot feel my legs!" I cry out once more.
But he too is oblivious to my cries.
Turning to Gwen, he urges her to go….to get help…he would stay here with me and try to stop my bleeding.
Bleeding?
I try to reach for her, but found myself helpless – my body, a vegetable…
Nothing.
She darts off leaving me with Arthur who had been incessantly insisting that I stay strong…
But couldn't they see? That I was fine? That I was talking to them?
Apparently not!
"Stay put Merlin! Stay put!" He says and looking behind him, he is calling out for help.
He let's me go, leaving me... sprawled out in – what I had dismaying discovered to be - my own pool of blood.
Arthur is gone…..
The urge to cry out intensifies.
I struggle within me to break free
To move a muscle – even if it is just a little.
Oh, Please….help me! I look up at the constellation themed ceiling.
So many stars – so many artificial stars.
The bright light slowly dissipates and in front of me she appears.
Looking down at me, a slight smirk appears on her face.
Slowly she lowers her body to me, her long black hair dips into my pool of blood.
Placing her lips close to my ears she slithers out her words, "Now…Merlin….for the sake of the Pendragon lineage….and the order…now….Merlin…..you die!"
She got up, our eyes met, her arms were raised and my eyes trace them, to find her tightly clutching a sharp object – a dagger.
The look in her eyes – rage – pure rage..
This was not the Morgana I knew
No….this woman was filled with sudden hate for me.
Her eyes…their fury….unraveled before me…I knew instantly what was to come….
Oh dear Lord! I prayed….she was going to finish me…..and no one could help me.
There was no shouting!
There was no running!
I lay still and unmoved….yet I witnessed it all….my impending death, by a woman I had come to care so much for – almost like a sister…
A woman determined to take my own life – the reason, was beyond me.
"Forgive me, Merlin." She whispered.
With full force – swinging the dagger over her…targeting my heart….
My eyes closed shut…...tight….
I was ready to face my doom….
to be welcomed by my maker….
I could hear her cry out…when suddenly her cry came to a sudden halt.
The pressure on my chest eased, as I watched Morgana fall to the side.
Gwen!
A struggle broke out between the two ladies.
"You do not understand!" Morgana shouted out, her hands tightly gripped around Gwen's arms "This is necessary! This is destiny!"
"You will not harm him!" Gwen furiously warned, "I will not watch you harm him!"
The dagger fell to the floor, it's tip missing my flesh by a few inches.
I close my eyes…it was pointless watching the struggle- if Morgana won….I would be dead, by reasons known only to her. If Gwen succeeded…I still remained a bleeding vegetable.
Then I heard the commotion intensify, more voices? More strength! More breakage!
Gwen's cry of pain?
I did not dare….to open my eyes and see….no….it was pointless.
Suddenly I heard it….Gunshot!
Gun Shot…..
It was deafening…..
I watch how both Gwen and Morgana fall back, their arms spread out elegantly and gracefully….
Their faces entangled by their voluminous manes, such beautiful creatures they both were….
But I watched one fall to the ground…..her hands finally clutching her chest, a look of pain and relief all encompassed into endless beauty….
Morgana…..
"Arthur….
" Gwen cried out.
There was immediate silence….
He stood shocked….
His eyes fall unto the gun, tightly in his grip.
A sudden terror encompasses him….
A look at his sister lying motionless on the ground,
Quickly, he drops his weapon,
What had he done?
I could not believe my eyes…I watch Morgana – lifeless - ….she is distant, but I can see her features perfectly….her face….beautiful and in peace….
He is on his knees, his head resting on her chest, as he cries himself in sorrow.
The beautiful Gwen, stands behind him, her hand slowly placed on his shoulder. A comforting move…a move that causes him to steady his soul….
It created a tremor in mine…and in that brief second…I saw how Morgana's eyes burst open….
I could not scream for I was mute to their ears…a smile crept on her face and I tried to alert my friends….
What kind of evil had engulfed her, what demon scurried in her soul?
I hoped this all to be a dream…for what was happening before me did not seem real to me no more.
"We are doomed Merlin…" she hissed.
I tried to catch the attention of my friends, both mourning for either one of us…or rather both of us…for I did not know who died.
"You tried to kill me!" I scream.
She laughs, "Oh…no, no, no….No point killing a dead person, Merlin…what I did try to do was complete the ritual…."
"You disgust me, Morgana!" I say spitefully.
I notice Gwen and Arthur, the two seemed frozen in time, nothing stirred, I did not notice them even breathe…
"They cannot hear us, get up!" she stepped out of her body, like a ghost she floated towards me, "Get up!" She commanded once more.
I lift myself away from my mortal body, we were now apparitions both towering on top of our mortal bodies, trapped in a realm I never imagined existed.
"What is this?" I exclaim.
She shakes her hair, "The barrier between life and death…it will soon decide what path we shall follow."
"You bled me to death! You heartless witch!" I curse out at her.
Her face carries no remorse, perhaps she did not even hear me, for her mind was deep in thought, suddenly she stretched out her hand, "I have failed but so have you…come join hands with me…and let us take down the last of the
Pendragons….."
"Why would you do that? He is your brother…."
"My half-brother, but it has been prophesied….the woman you are falling for, belongs to him, Merlin…and she will be the doom of our powerful empire."
"You are insane…" I curse out.
"Oh Merlin…I knew you ever to be so righteous, killing you would have been the easier way out…for it is your weakness for her that will ruin us…ruin the order."
"Who told you such lies?"
"The order…the dragon spoke to me…" she whispered.
I did not believe her, "Bullshit, Morgana…only your father hears the words of the great dragon…."
She looked at me straight in the eyes, "Yes indeed, Merlin….only he….if he were alive that is."
It didn't take me long to realize, just how dangerous she had become…I took a step back. Not knowing in which direction to run.
She started to laugh, her laughter was high pitched, powerful almost shriek like and extremely deafening….it brought me to my knees….
Suddenly my eyes tore themselves open…